MEMBER BLOG

If you knew me personally, you would think that I criticsize almost everything negativly in my life. I never really express much hatred on the forums, mainly because my criticsms extend far beyond video games. That's until now, where I'm going to list, what I think, are the top ten most overrated games in recent history. Be prepared to spam my email-adress with hate-mail.

(11: Sonic The Hedgehog series)

I know that this isn't in the top 10, but I just had the urge to discuss on it. Anyway, in case you are wondering, I'm not just talking about the 3D Sonic games, I'm also talking about the 2D ones as well. When I hear people complain about the 3D games, they always talk about how the 2D games were much better, but I don't really see what's so great about those games. At its core the Sonic games have been nothing more than a mediocre platformer with weak level design and a large gimmick. I mean, if it wasn't for the speed, would you still enjoy playing Sonic? I mean, it's not like the speed really effects the gameplay. The speed is really just there for show. You don't really control Sonic most of the time, you really just watch him speed down the level(s) with little to no interaction in controlling him. Also, the difficulty in these games are based more on random events than on actuall skill. So overall, the Sonic games are nothing more than style over substance.

10: Super Mario Galaxy

Don't get me wrong, Super Mario Galaxy is a good game, It's just not a great game. The awkward controls, the worthless items, the wonky camera, the repetetive levels, the piss-easy boss fights, the lack of depth and the un-intuitive lives-system, makes me wonder why game journalist didn't consider all these problems into account in their reviews. I think that the only reason why this game got alot of praise, was simply because it was a new Mario game. I'm sure that If the game didn't star Mario, and instead starred some anthropomorphic animal, the reviews would be in the 7s and 8s instead of the 9s and 10s.

9: StarCraft

In my opinion, the Dawn of War games are the best RTS experiences to date. Dawn of War improved on alot of conventions that plagued the RTS genre like making units more managable, making resource-collecting more competetive, and making the experience more cinematic. Despite all of this, StarCraft still remains the most popular RTS game after a decade of its release. After what've seen in RTS games, over the year, I'm still wondering why this game continues to be praised by journalists and gamers everywhere. Even at its time or release, It wasn't very revolutionary. People would say that it's main feature is the inclusion of having races that play differently from eachother. This may seem innovative....to those who've never played Dune II (one of the first RTS games), which had races with different skills and abillities. Besides, at it's core, StarCraft is still a mediocre RTS game that focuses more on rush tactics than actuall strategic.

8: Metal Gear Solid 1-3

Many people would say that the first Metal Gear Solid was the first 3D stealth-based game. Actually, Tenchu and Thief, beat it to the finish line, but since those two games weren't as popular as MGS, it dosen't make it in the history books. MGS was a pretty good game....at it's time, when there were no analog sticks on the psONE (crawling is impossible). Nowadays, the game is a clunkly affair to play. So, can somebody explain to me why these controls are in MGS 2&3, despite the fact that they were both developed for the PS2 which has two-analog sticks, and is a generation ahead? It's not just the controls that bother me, it's also the fixed camera angles; the long, overdramatic cut-scenes, and the re-spawning enemies and items. MGS IV may be better, but when looking at the previous games, it just pales in comparison to games like Splinter Cell.

7: Crysis

Okay, I'm cheating, I haven't actually played the full game of Crysis, but what I've experienced in playing the demo, Crysis is nothing more than an average shooter covered in attractive graphics. The only reason why Crysis got numerous game of the year rewards, was because of it's advanced graphics engine which made people pay more attention to the look of the game, rather than the play of the game; which includes poor enemy A.I., week RPG elements, wonky vehicle sections, and linear level design. Besides, in order to achieve all of the graphical capabilities, you would probably need to steal a computer that's used by NASA.

6: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Before GTA IV was released (let alone, announced), the most popular GTA title was San Andreas. San Andreas added alot of new elements elements to it's game design, like territory control and RPG elements. The problem with these inclusions, is that they are poorly made. The most tedious element were the RPG elements, which forced you to play these incredibley boring minigames; such as the repeatedingly mash up and down. Territory control seemed like a good idea as well, but with a clunky combat system and weak interface makes the idea just that; an idea. Despite all of those problems, San Andreas made it to the top 5 sales chart, many game of the year awards, and a spot on my overrated games list. At least GTA IV is a better game.

5: Super Metroid

Despite all of the tedium and bad game design that's included in Super Metroid, it still finds a place in alot of "Best Game Ever" awards, and it's hard to see why. The element that's in Super Metroid that alot of people talk about, is the "enhanced" RPG elements, which allow you to find, equip and shoot different weapons. The problem with this is that most of the weapons you find seem to only be used for solving puzzles (like opening doors), and nothing else. Then there's the exploration elements, which is the series most famous element, but finding hidden rooms and passages is really just a matter of luck rather than keen eye-sense. Infact one time when I was following the linear path, I couldn't find out where to go only to find out that I had to shoot the floor that hand no visible difference than any other floor.......Excuuuuuse Nintendo for not having a giant, massive space brain for not figuring out that puzzle, even though it was never mentioned in the game at all. Also, why do developers keep making games with respawning enemies and items? People may say it adds challenge, but I say that it adds annoyance and feel that I'm just grinding to get extra items. However, I guess since alot of game journalists are in their 20s, and 30s, and must've played Super Metroid when they were kid, Super Metroid may seem like "the ****".

4: Bioshock

The latest in the rare FPRPS (First Person Role Playing Shooter) genre, Bioshock has gotten allot of praise, recognition and a list on my overrated games list. The problem with Bioshock is that it trys to appeal to a more mainstream audience by removing some common elements found in the genre (inventory managment), and making combat less strategic and more circle-strafe. When it's played by a large amount of gamers who enjoy playing Halo, Bioshock may seem like the most innovative game to ever surface the universe, despite there being better games in the genre, like Deus Ex and System Shock.

3; Halo series

Allot of people would tell you that the Halo series reinvented the FPS genre, and their right, because almost every FPS game I see is trying to be like Halo and, just like Halo, is ****. If you're saying that Halo reinvented the FPS genre, in a possitive way, than you're wrong. What's so innovative about repetitive enviroments, tedious combat, and space marines fighting aliens? Allot of people may tell you that the multiplayer options more than make up the single-player campaigns, but there's nothing about it that sets it apart from multiplayer games, like Unreal Tournament and Call of Duty 4. Besides, the only people who truly think that Halo reinvented the FPS genre, are console gamers who had to live their lives playing mediocre FPS ports and when Halo came out, it was viewed as being the "best" in the genre. That's like saying that Command & Conquer 3 for the Xbox 360 is the best RTS game.

2: Final Fantasy VII (and other JRPGs in general)

You know, back when I even enjoyed playing JRPGs, I still thought FFVII was just a lame game, even for the genre. I mean can somebody please explain to me what's so great about tedious mini-games, the lack of individuallity among the playable characters, and a confusing story that rivals the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie? The reasons why FFVII was popular was because, to many, it was the first RPG they've played, and was the first to experience CGI graphics, and that's it. While we are on the subject of a JRPG, lets put the genre, as a whole, on the list. I don't understand why this genre is more popular than it's western cousins? maybe it's because allot of people out there enjoy playing games that contain gameplay that are dated, tedious, un-interactive, un-imersive, un-strategic, easy, and just boring. Allot of fanboys will tell you that story in these games more than make up for the gameplay, but I believe those people either have their head far up their ass, or that they would rather watch a movie than play a video game. Also, back to FFVII, I would like to add a little something to this summary; FUCK AERIS!!! SO WHAT IF SHE DIED IN FFVII?!! THAT DOES NOT MAKE THE GAME MORE ENJOYABLE TO PLAY!!!

1: Legend of Zelda series

Boy, I bet you didn't see this coming. Now before you close this page and start preparing to burn my house down, let me explain. Back on the NES, the original Zelda game was innovative for being epic, unlike much of the "arcadey" video games at the time. Then there was Link to the Past, which improved on the core gameplay in many ways. And that's were the innovation ends. Since Link to the Past, the core gameplay of the Zelda series has never changed. It always involves the redundent formula of linearly traversing through dungeons, solving puzzles, fighting bosses, traverse through another dungeon, etc. And that's it. And this formula has never changed over the years. Sure, some of them made the jump to 3D and some of them allowed you to transform into a wolf, but other than Majora's Mask, the games have never changed or improved upon its core gameplay and formula. Also, why do the developers still give you, essentially, an unlimited amount of rupees, as well as having everything in the game to constantly respawn? It's not fun. It's not challenging. It's ****ing annoying. Besides, with similiar games out like Beyond Good & Evil and Okami, which offers more depth and variety in its' core gameplay, The Legend of Zelda series just pails in comparison.

So, this was my top 10 (11) most overrated games list. If anybody were to read this, I'm sure that I'm going to be under the witness protection program to avoid being killed my avid fanboys who whear underwear that's licsensed off of the above games.